There are plenty of ways to celebrate love. You can read saccharine poems or listen to heartfelt songs. You can get lost in a steamy novel. You can draw hearts on everything you own. But, there is perhaps no better ode to love than the classic romantic comedy. Rom-coms perfectly capture all the trials and tribulations that come with falling in love, wrapped up in the nice bow of Hollywood glitz and glam. And of course, they come with a hefty sprinkling of meet-cutes and fun makeover sequences thrown in. There is perhaps no better way to celebrate love than by watching two people find their way into each other’s arms on the big screen.
The romantic comedy has a long history in Hollywood. As long as there have been leading men and women, there have been audiences eager to watch them fall in love. After all, romantic comedies take everything that’s wonderful about falling in love – from the heart-pounding intrigue to funny and awkward flirting – and kicks it up a notch.
Rom-com filmmakers know how to create the perfect situation for optimal swooning and happy tears, which is why romantic comedies, for as cheesy as they can sometimes be, are so cathartic. If you’ve seen at least half of the films on this list, then you can call yourself a true romantic.
1. The Proposal
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What happens when you put Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, and Betty White in the Alaskan countryside?
You end up with one of the most delightful rom-coms of the 21st century. This movie is the perfect example of the “opposites attract” trope, as Bullock’s uptight boss character and Reynolds’ laid-back assistant learn to balance each other out. And Betty White as a spiritual guru is everything you never knew you needed.
2. The Big Sick
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The only thing that can make a rom-com even better is when it’s based on a true story.
Real-life husband and wife writing team Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon made this movie as an ode to their complicated love story. Nanjiani plays a version of himself, which makes the movie all the more touching. Come for the romance, stay for a “meet the parents” story like you’ve never seen before.
3. Set It Up
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Assistants know how to handle everything in their bosses’ lives, even their love lives.
At least that’s what the main characters (Zoey Deutsch and Glen Powell) think. But, they soon realize they can’t control as much as they think, including their budding attraction to each other. They also can’t control their infinite amount of witty banter, which is simply a joy to watch. This one’s ready to stream right on Netflix.
4. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
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This one starts out as a breakup movie, but it ends up being one of the cutest romances around.
With a cast including Jason Segel, Kirsten Bell, and Mila Kunis, this movie is also pretty heavy on the comedy. In fact, the movie’s opening breakup scene is one of the funniest movie scenes ever. Plus, the movie’s beautiful Hawaiian setting provides plenty of idyllic scenery to look at while you’re laughing your pants off.
5. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
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This Netflix original movie perfectly captures all the joy and anxiety of high school crushes.
Lara Jean Covey (Lana Condor) pretends to date Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo), and it’s an absolute delight to watch a real romance blossom from their ruse. The film’s an excellent win for diverse casting, thanks to its Asian-American lead and her family. This movie also helped spark the very well-deserved Noah Centineo fandom, so look out for him being especially adorable.
6. Bringing Up Baby
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This classic film is filled with more innuendos than you’d ever expect from a 1930s movie.
Howard Hawks directs two old Hollywood stars, Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, in this fast-paced romp. As such an early example of a rom-com, it helped set the precident for all the unlikely cinematic couples to follow.
As for all those inneundos? Hollywood put a kibosh to that in 1934 with the Hays Code, AKA censorship that banned the likes of dirty talk and “lustful kissies.” The film also includes one of the finest performances from a wild jungle cat ever recorded in the history of film.
7. Sleepless in Seattle
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Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan make a perfect rom-com couple, and this movie proves it.
There’s something so romantic about the idea of star-crossed lovers who must be kept apart. This movie takes that idea to the furthest extreme by keeping its two leads away from each other for the majority of the movie. But, when they do finally meet at the top of the Empire State Building, it’s totally worth the wait.
8. Pretty Woman
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In this one, the princess rescues the prince right back.
At first, it seems like Julia Roberts’ Vivian needs wealthy Edward (played by Richard Gere) to save her from a life of sex work. But, the joy of this movie comes from watching just how both people in this relationship help each other grow. Plus, Vivian gets to have one of the most memorable movie shopping sequences ever.
9. Bridget Jones’ Diary
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One guy is hard enough to deal, with but Bridget juggles two.
In this modern spin on Pride and Prejudice, Renée Zellweger plays a truly relatable everywoman who has to choose between Hugh Grant and Colin Firth. It’d be tough decision for anyone, but it’s made way more fun thanks to bouncy British comedy of this movie. If you can’t get enough of Bridget, there are two sequels filled with more romance.
10. Notting Hill
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“I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy…”
By the time Notting Hill came out in theaters in 1999, Julia Roberts was one of the biggest movie stars in the world. In a sort of meta move, Roberts plays a version of herself as an American movie star who falls in love with Hugh Grant as an average Brit. It’s a tender, human story that boils down all the most wonderful aspects about falling in love to their simplest form.
11. Pretty in Pink
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John Hughes basically defined the teen rom-com in the 1980s.
Molly Ringwald gives an iconic performance as Andie Walsh. She has the ultimate crush on Blaine McDonaugh (Andrew McCarthy), but she’s from the “wrong side of the tracks.” Any time she gets too caught up in her feelings, her best friend Ducky (Jon Cryer) is there – in some amazing 1980s era outfits – to help lighten the mood.
12. It Happened One Night
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In a way, this is the movie that started it all.
This classic Frank Capra film from 1934, like Bringing Up Baby, was one of the first movies ever to pair an unlikely duo together — bringing audiences heaps of both romance and comedy. Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert star in this movie that pushes the boundaries of what was allowed on screen at the time. Even nearly a century later, it’s just as sexy and funny as ever before.
13. Jerry Maguire
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“You had me at hello.”
Tom Cruise’s titular character is far from a perfect person, but that’s all part of what makes this love story so compelling: It’s a romance between real, flawed humans. His final speech professing his love to Dorothy (Renée Zellweger) is enough to solidify this one as a romantic classic. After all, is there anything more romantic than the words, “You complete me”? (Although, to be clear, you should be complete all on your own.)
14. Crazy Rich Asians
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There’s nothing more romantic than a love worth fighting for.
In Crazy Rich Asians Rachel (Constance Wu) and Nick (Henry Golding) have to prove their love to an entire extended family of “crazy rich Asians” before they can live happily ever after. But, all their trials, tribulations, and travels to Singapore make it clear that their love is worth it.
15. When Harry Met Sally
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“When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”
There is perhaps no greater rom-com than When Harry Met Sally. This movie is jam-packed with memorable moments, from the infamous deli scene to the New Year’s Eve declaration of love. Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan make the perfect friends-turned-romantic couple, and all the vignettes of real-life couples sharing their love stories fill this movie with romance to the brim.
